SINGTEL&rsquo S technology services arm NCS has acquired a digital services company in Australia, ARQ Group, for A$290 million (S$296.8 million), as part of its regionalisation plans, it said on Monday (Mar 28).

 

ARQ is a Melbourne-based digital consultancy group specialising in mobile applications, cloud and data analytics. The acquisition will be NCS&rsquo s fourth in Australia in the past 15 months.

 

NCS had previously acquired IT company The Dialog Group and cloud consultancy Riley, and made a majority investment in cloud transformation specialist Eighty20 Solutions.

 

Ng Kuo Pin, chief executive of NCS, said the deal ramps up the company&rsquo s presence in a market that is &ldquo critical to our regional expansion&rdquo .

 

Ng said: &ldquo Taken together, our 4 investments to date have given us the necessary scale, capabilities and credibility to compete as a regional digital powerhouse as we help governments and enterprises in Singapore and Australia achieve their digital transformation goals.&rdquo

 

The deal will also scale up NCS Next &ndash NCS&rsquo s digital innovation and services arm &ndash in Australia, as it now offers an end-to-end digital transformation value proposition for clients.

 

The transaction price comprises A$265 million to be paid out in cash once the acquisition is completed, and deferred consideration and earn-out amount of A$25 million payable in tranches over a period of 3 years after the completion.

 

NCS noted that ARQ is one of the largest fast-growing digital services providers in Australia, and it has a strong client coverage and serves half of the Australian Securities Exchange&rsquo s top 20 companies across the financial services, utilities, retail, healthcare, travel and government sectors.

 

It expects ARQ&rsquo s revenue will increase 38 per cent on year to A$118 million by the end of 2022, while its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation is projected to increase to A$18.4 million.

 

Post acquisition, ARQ&rsquo s 560-strong team will increase NCS&rsquo s headcount in Australia to 1,900.

 

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by May 2022.

Analysts also see RHB Bank-Axiata Group and Aeon Credit-Aeon Financial Group consortiums as among likely awardees

SINGTEL' S Singtel : Z74 +1.15% wholly-owned subsidiary Singapore Telecom International has monetised a 1.6 per cent stake in telecommunications company Airtel Africa through a market placement.

 

The telco raised net proceeds of about S$150 million from the placement exercise, which was " well oversubscribed" , it said in a bourse filing on Friday (Mar 25).

 

The exercise was part of the mainboard-listed company' s capital recycling strategy, it said.

 

Airtel Africa is Africa' s second largest telecom operator with a combined mobile base of more than 125 million across 14 countries. It offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions, including mobile voice, data and mobile money services.

 

Following the transaction, Singtel will continue to hold a 21.7 per cent effective stake in Airtel Africa, comprising a 17.8 per cent indirect stake through its regional associate Airtel and a 3.9 per cent direct stake.

 

The realised gain on divestment of approximately S$34 million will be recorded in the group' s retained earnings in the balance sheet, said Singtel.